Audi technical chief Ulrich Hackenberg confirmed at the Detroit motor show that a model to closely link the firm’s Le Mans efforts with a road car was “an interesting idea but not a priority”.

The Audi hypercar had been extensively spoken about by Hackenberg’s predecessor, Wolfgang Dürheimer, who left the company last year amid reports he disagreed with Volkswagen Group chief Martin Winterkorn on Audi’s electric car strategy.

Hackenberg was warmer on one of Dürheimer’s other ideas, however. A sub-1000kg version of the TT was planned by Dürheimer and Hackenberg revealed that a lightweight TT using carbonfibre elements and other weight-saving technologies was possible on the MQB platform on which it is based.